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From the editorial advisory board: Charging for parking on open space

Posted:
02/09/2013 04:08:57 PM MST

Updated:
02/09/2013 04:12:33 PM MST

Rejecting a recommendation from open space staff, the Boulder City Council unanimously voted to continue charging out-of-county residents to park at some of the more popular Open Space and Mountain Parks trailheads. What do you think?

I suppose the good news is that our love for Boulder's parks and open space lands is so great that charging for parking has had no discernible effect. It's not making people stay away or switch to buses, bikes or boots to access them. The parking fee experiment has also proven unequal to the task of collecting enough money from out-of-towners to make up for the fact some may not be paying sales taxes when they come to visit. The nerve of them!

Since many of the parking fee stations are at trailheads far from city limits, the absence of in-town purchases subject to sales taxes was almost a given, and biking or walking to them was similarly unlikely. Staff recommended discontinuing the program, but the City Council disagreed.

To pay or not to pay, that is the question ... or is it? Things not paid for can be taken for granted. But making everyone pay is unfair to the poor. And, if payment is required, enforcement, though expensive, must happen, or no one will pay. Is there a third way? Sure.

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Make the parking fees "voluntary." Visitors are reminded that our parks and open space are not "free." The economically disadvantaged pay what they can afford. Ticketing is not required. Collections may drop, but enforcement costs are eliminated, so net revenues may even increase. All that is lost is the opportunity to punish scofflaws. Count me in.

"What's this you call property? It cannot be the earth for the land is our mother, nourishing all her children, beasts, birds, fish and all men. The woods, the streams, everything on it belongs to everybody and is for the use of all." (Massasoit)

Thank goodness Massasoit had this point of view when he welcomed settlers to Plymouth Colony, otherwise Boulderites might not be here today to punish out-of-towners for using "Boulder's" Open Space. Massasoit, not our City Council, has role modeled the proper attitude to handle trailhead parking problems.

"Our" open space vistas and experiences belong to everyone. While Boulderites, due to the coincidence of living here, are in charge of preserving them, they do not possess them. Similarly, the dollars needed to maintain the trails are the obligation of not only locals, but of everyone. If fees are needed, the burden should fall on all users. If parking needs to be discouraged, all drivers need to be discouraged.

Boulder likes to think of itself as being on the cutting edge of environmental awareness. Certainly, the environmental awareness part is a good thing, however, the environmental elitism that often goes with it can be obnoxious. We can be better role models by using gentle persuasion, such as signage and volunteer docents.

City Council members need an attitude adjustment to understand that the trailhead parking issue is an opportunity to educate and change behavior and not a reason to inflict punishment on "aliens."

Roughly 100 years after Europeans arrived in this valley in large numbers, the brightest of the lot worried that too many more would follow. They began the open space program. That was just 50 years ago. By 25 years ago, the first locals wondered if open space had become so popular that we would "love it to death."

When you have bought 85 square miles of parkland to be held in perpetuity, think long term. Since the beginning of open space, the population of Colorado has tripled, Boulder County quadrupled. The county will reach buildout with another 50,000 or so people, but in the I-25 corridor and east, think millions.

Some alive today will preside over a decision to abandon the ecosystem in parts of open space, or to require a permit to go for a hike. Just like a home beyond a certain age, maintenance will cost more than acquisition. Charge a fee to non-resident parkers? Why on Earth not?

Think long term. Above all consider our good fortune. Find humility there. In the next conflicts fee/no-fee, dog/no-dog, bike no-bike, use/close, keep our voices down. Consider that half the country is trying to make ends meet, and not doing so well.

Then give thanks to that original bright lot, and ask if we are working on visions today, any at all, comparable to the gift of open space.

The Public Review Draft of the Pilot Parking Fee Program, a 21-page document, outlines the staff's assessment of the pilot program, gives data about the program and supports its conclusion that the program be discontinued. The stated purpose of the fee was to reduce parking congestion by encouraging walking and biking and to ensure non-county residents contributed their fair share for the use of open space, which is otherwise funded by sales tax. According to the staff recommendation the parking fee met neither of these objectives.

The City Council unanimously rejected the recommendation and is anticipating rolling out fees at all open space parking areas. Councilwoman Ageton suggested staff lacked the RIGHT data to support their assumption that trail users do pay their fair share through sales tax generation. She offered NO data to the contrary. Councilwoman Morzel said she personally observed Jefferson County residents drive to open space and then go home without spending any money in Boulder. You have to wonder; how did she observe that? Are no data and one anecdote better than the data-driven staff analysis?

Staff recommended dumping the fee because it doesn't reduce parking congestion, non-resident users do pay their fair share by generating sales tax revenue, the fee will hinder regional open space cooperation, parking fees disproportionately effect low income people, and the income generated did not justify all the costs.

Let's follow the data. The fee didn't work and its expansion may bring unintended consequences.

The City Council should demonstrate receptiveness to the expert advice of open space staff. It strikes me as tone-deaf to sweepingly reject evidence that the existing program is not working as intended.

I'm also sympathetic to those who aren't happy that parking fees are targeting only out-of-county users. Boulder should be generous to its neighbors, and proactive about attracting sales-tax revenue from visitors.

But the fact remains that car usage is a major contributor to present-day concerns over the environment, congestion, and consumption of scarce resources. Boulder has always been at the cutting edge of attacking such problems, and I would not favor walking away from the idea of having car users offset their impacts financially.

I'd recommend that the parking fee be expanded to all users (including those in Boulder County) and all trailheads. Boulder residents have repeatedly demonstrated willingness to target our dollars toward sustainability. We can be convinced to contribute beyond our existing tax obligations for the convenience of bringing cars to trailheads. The program should be creative in assuring appropriate discounts/waivers for seniors, students, the disabled, and low-income residents. Perhaps a worthy challenge would be for the more affluent to voluntarily sponsor parking passes for those who struggle financially.

Revenue from this expanded program could be used to fund both better parking and non-automobile access options. Remember, regardless of the solution to this parking issue, open space access and use will still be free of charge.

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